Guitar Hero opinions?

Hey folks,
First of all, Happy 2010 to you all!
I'm writing an essay for my uni course with the following title:

"Guitar Hero has been an enormously successful game format, discuss whether this is a good or bad development for music creativity in general"

Now this is by no means an attempt to get you guys to do the assignment for me, but what sort of stuff do you think about Guitar Hero? Good or bad? Musically creative or musically destructive? Does it contribute to or detract from the guitar as an instrument/means of expression and creative output? How do you think Guitar Hero affects or contributes to modern popular music styles, as well as how the guitar is viewed by both players and non-players?

as a player I don't really like guitar hero for the fact that it makes people think(kind of strange) that real guitar is just as easy to become good at. I believe it does however allow kids to know such amazing artists as Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, and other's like AC/DC and many more.
just my 2 cents

Not sure. Seen it but never played it! Strictly off the top of my head though, it strikes me as being the next step forward from playing 'air guitar.' On the one hand I can see it inspiring people to want to learn guitar, but on the other it could cause frustration and disappointment to the prospective student when he/she finds that the real thing isn't so easy.
My biggest fear is that it will create a whole new wave of critics. We all know that most guitar critics are just frustrated guitar players!

I don't really have an opinion on it. I think it's a great party game, and it's fun to play, but not related to music that much. Where I'm at, very few kids actually pick up a guitar because the game. And the ones who get addicted to that game [from what I've seen] are the ones that have tried and failed at real guitar. Just my thoughts.

when guitar hero came out, the amount of guitar players skyrocketed, every guitar player i knew in high school played guitar hero first. which makes it hard for a rising musician like me to catch a break with a million other guitarists trying to start a band. at first i boycotted the game, i would absolutely refuse to play it. but i couldn't stay away, you can't deny that it is a fun game.

i thoguht i posted a response here but i don't see it now? hm. but i completely disagree that guitar hero "kills" anything. quite the opposite. how many millions of people bought GH? and of those people, how many of them never would have picked up a musicl instrument had it not been for GH in the first place?

it's a little iffy, but for the most part the GH guitar/system IS a musical instrument. you give it inputs, and it responds by playing "notes". now GRANTED there are some extreme limitations to what you can play on GH. basically you can play the song you are given, and that's it. but the input is the same, the methodology is the same. you are learning patterns and rhythym. look at the recorder you picked up in elementary school ... very simple input, very simple output, but it's just a precursor to more complex instruments.

finally i had always been interested in guitar and never picked one up. picking up GH reminded me about that fact and i went and got a guitar not too long after playing it at a friend's house.

and i promise you, nobody is saying "i want to learn guitar, but GH is easier i'll just play that instead". these people never would have learned guitar even if they bought one.

that's like arguing that the military is losing numbers because kids are playing "call of duty" instead of enlisting. "why should i bother going into the military when i can just play videogames?"

yeah, i don't know. If it gets people interesting in learning the guitar, then where is the harm? Ideally, people would play guitar hero and realize that you can do so much more using a real guitar and pick that up. Does it happen that way usually? probably not. Does it really increase creativity? Not really. Should it increase the popularity of the instrument? Yeah, i would guess so.

It's entertainment, but for games only. It's the worst thing that could happen for actual guitar or music in general - it's become an image rather than a talent

No one in this generation knows how to appreciate music e.g. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Squeaqual - opening scene - some loser guy thinking he's amazing at guitar.

Everyone in this day and age honestly thinks they're really good because they haven't heard the greats or simply refuse to because they're absorbed in this crap. This is exactly why popular music is dying out and only worse tunes will come out to the mainframe.

There's no passion, no soul to express themselves with. It's sucking the meaning out of it and out of music. Just see someone thinking "I'm hot I play guitar". - No, THIS is how you play guitar *shows countless amazing examples* PLAY THAT and I'll be pleased.

Not to attack your paper at all, but I feel that Guitar Hero has no direct correlation to Guitar in general. Guitar Hero is a game, Guitar is a hobby/talent/skill/career. You're comparing apples to oranges.

It's like comparing Modern Warfare 2 to the war in Iraq. If I play mw2 long enough, will it change my outlook on war?

Not to attack your paper at all, but I feel that Guitar Hero has no direct correlation to Guitar in general. Guitar Hero is a game, Guitar is a hobby/talent/skill/career. You're comparing apples to oranges.

It's like comparing Modern Warfare 2 to the war in Iraq. If I play mw2 long enough, will it change my outlook on war?

Definitely a strong and valid point Jeff, and one that I reckon I could discuss in my paper. Just so you know, it's not a subject I came up with to discuss but rather one I was given without a choice by my module lecturer. I reckon he'd be a little bit peeved if I handed him my essay and all it said was "This question is entirely irrelevant, has no real substance and I therefore refuse to dignify it with a response." ! Although it's damn tempting...

To me, Guitar Hero is a "fun" way for people to feel good about themselves. There is no relation to playing that game and playing an actual instrument, other than the fact that you are creating noise as an end result of your actions on the Guitar Hero "instruments".

I have found few good things about this game, none of which make me feel even slightly inclined to play the game, let alone get addicted to the game. Two of these things are, 1) The playlist is pretty solid on all of the games. Good music by good bands and 2)The game is pretty challenging; at least for me. So long as people don't take this game too seriously, and fall into the false assumptions that, one, being proficient at the game makes you a "rock star" and two, the game is similar to really playing a guitar, then I hold bars against it.

I do not the game is musically destructive. I do however, believe the game to be, and I say this with caution and hesitation, not so much musically constructive, making people musically aware. It is in my experience that most people who play the game have never heard of half the songs - which are put on display in a very appealing sort of way. Open peoples minds and ears to new music may in turn create a surge of music sales and hopefully a desire or want to actually become interested in playing a real guitar in order to relieve ones conscience of the false satisfaction of becoming a rock star in the world of Guitar Hero, and resolve into actual satisfaction of something real and tangible instead of a meager video game.

I do not think the game has any real effect on music styles or technical styles amongst real guitar players. Who knows, the game might also inspire a revolution to include guitarists around the world to combat that false rock stardom with real guitar showmanship and talent.

I think over all, the game has had a positive influence on our culture and social system. I do not like game and actually find it annoying and bothersome to watch or listen to other people play the game, however, I hold no grudge nor will I say the game sucks and should be removed from stores globally. There is a famous quote:

I don't really associate one with the other. I think of GH and guitar in completely different terms. I hear people say things like "oh, GH makes it easier to learn guitar" and I'm like "whatever, it's just a game. Try playing the songs on real guitar and we'll see how far you get".

I do play GH, in case you're wondering, but only like any other video game (when I'm sick of Halo 3 for example). I do think that the drum part of GH can be helpful to drummers (judging from the look of the equipment used, I haven't played drums on GH and I'm absolutely terrible at actual drums), but they shouldn't rely on it for a sole learning tool.

didn't wanna rant/type so i scanned a few pages from 'The Real Frank Zappa Book'(FZ wrote year before died) ... he wrote this after being in the musick biz since 1963, writing a zillion tunes, orchestral endeavors, creating Jazz ensembles, and (just before his sad, untimely death) being commissioned by orchestras the world round. that and the whole "he was an effing genious" thang :

I just think its a fun game that if anything requires some dexterous skill to play xD haha fun to show off to your friends and what not but definitely not as impressive as someone who can actually play the guitar.

honestly i HATE guitar hero and all the games similar to it for one simple reason. i go on youtube and look up a song to see the artist play it and all i get is "OMG dark matter - rusty cooley on super extreme hardmode 1000000" and its just like spam to me, why would any1 care if you have a low enough life to do that?

I recently got into learning to play guitar just because it is something I thought would be fun to do, I have no inclination at the moment to start a band or anything.

I played Guitar Hero before I bought my guitar but it had nothing to do with me wanting to play the real guitar, it was simply a game I enjoyed and thought was fun.

fwiw, he reason I bought my guitar and learned to play was because I was sitting on my computer listening to music and had iTunes no random. It played Dream Theater's "Another Day" and the solo Petrucci plays in that song is so damned amazing that I just really wanted to learn to play. So I got one and decided to try to learn. A little overwhelmed with so much to learn, probably because I am trying to learn the reasons why musicians do the things they do and not just mimic them, but it's awesome anyways!

Hey guys,
Just to let y'all know that the essay is finished and ready for submission on Monday. I just wanted to say thanks for every single post on this thread from each of you, I really appreciate it as you all provided some excellent points for me to think about! I've included a link in my bibliography references to this thread for my lecturer to check out when he grades the paper, just so he can see how helpful you've all been! I might even upload the essay to the web somewhere if any of you are interested in reading it, though it's probably not the most fascinating thing you'll ever read...
Thanks again guys!